Tuesday, December 1, 2009

MANILA - The president of the gay rights group that has been banned from the party list by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has joined the senatorial race for next year.

Danton Remoto, president of Ang Ladlad, said that he is making a bid for a Senate seat to make sure that the gay and lesbian community will have representation the legislature in the event that the Comelec and the Supreme Court upholds the disqualification of his group from the party-list elections.

“We need candidates that are not trapos (traditional politicians) or are not part of a dynasty, and I’m one of the few candidates of that kind,” Remoto said.

Remoto, who has worked as a professor at the Ateneo de Manila University and as a staff of the Philippine office of the United Nations Development Programme, said that his platforms are “education for all” and “human rights for all.”

The poll body's 2nd division decided on November 11 that Ang Ladlad's petition to be accredited for the party list is “dismissible on moral grounds," apparently referring to parts of the petition defining homosexuality as capable of having intimate physical relationship with members of the same sex.

The poll body said that accrediting Ang Ladlad would pose a threat to the youth. "Should this Commission grant the petition, we will be exposing our youth to an environment that does not conform to the teachings of our faith," the ruling stated.

The group has filed a motion for reconsideration and is planning to file a petition at the Supreme Court to reverse the Comelec decision.

Remoto said that as of his filing, he is running as an independent candidate, but said there is a possibility that he will be a guest candidate of one of the major political parties.

“As of today, I am running as an independent. Baka bukas iba na ang kulay ng paru-paro (The butterfly may change colors tomorrow),” Remoto said, jokingly referring to the term for shifting political alliances.